Ocean Shipping: A Breakthrough For Hunters

Published: April - 2003

Here at The Hunting Report, we kicked off a series of reports last month on the many problems hunters are having with trophy shipments. Our report last month focused on the shipping delays that are occurring in South Africa and on the need for hunters to buy cargo insurance on all their trophy shipments. This month, we focus on some good news - namely, the emergence of ocean-shipping as a way of reducing the cost of getting your trophies home. At this point, the shipping can only be done from South Africa, utilizing a single company. And only mounted trophies are involved. But who knows - perhaps this is the start of a major good-news trend. Managing Editor Barbara Crown filed the report.)

If you have hunted overseas recently and shipped any trophies home, you know all too well that the cost of shipping trophies internationally by air is skyrocketing. Rising fuel and security costs point toward even higher costs in the future. But hold the phone. Some good news is emerging on this front, at least in South Africa, thanks to New York-based cargo broker, Fauna and Flora, and South African shipping company, Safari Air Cargo. Together, they have put together a deal that allows them to transport fully mounted trophies from South Africa to the United States at least 50 percent cheaper than they can currently be shipped by air. Their secret? They have ironed out all the details to permit bulk shipping of trophies via ocean vessel.

The cost of shipping one kilo of what's called chargeable mass via air is $3 or more. That same kilo by ocean is only $1.50. And that is not the only advantage of containerized ocean-shipping of trophies. For one thing, crates shipped this way are handled, packed and unpacked only by Safari Air Cargo and Flora and Fauna personnel, who are more likely to treat them carefully than airline cargo and baggage handlers. Also, because the entire shipment is made up of mounted trophies, the crates have similar weights and densities. That means you don't have to worry........(continued)